Machine for making conveyer flights



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

MACHINE FOR MAKING GONVEYBR FLIGHTS. No. 328,013.

Patented Oct. 13, 1885.

rev Puma PhotM-iihognphen Wazhlngion. nfc.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2. S. COX.

MACHINE FOR MAKING GONVEYBR FLIGHTS. No. 328,013. Patented Oct. 13,-1885.

Fig.5

N PETERS Pholo-Lvlhographer. Wanl nglon n, c.

(N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

MACHINE FOR MAKING GONVEYE'R FLIGHTS.

No. 328,013. Patented Oct. 13, 1885.

YERS. Pmwumgn mr. Wabinlon uc.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SYLVANUS COX, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

MACHINE FOR MAKING CONVEYER-FLIGHTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,013, dated October13, 1885.

ApplicatiOn filed March 3, 1894. Serial No. 122,904. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYLvANUs Cox, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State ofIndiana,have invented a new and useful Automatic Machine for theManufacture of Conveyer-Flights, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture ofconveyer-flights,in which the material, when fed into the machine inrough strips, is shaped automatically into per fect flights forflour-mill conveyors.

The objects of my invention are to dispense with hand-labor and cheapenthe cost of constructing the flights. I attain these objects by themechanism illustratedinthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is avertical sectional view of my entire machine. Fig. 2 isa perspectiveView of the cutter-head for beveling the ends and cutting off theflights. section across the end of the machine, showing the arrangementof the pulleys and belts which run the movable tenon-heads. Fig. 4 is aside view of machine, with'the frame supporting the oblique cutter-headL broken away to show the arrangement of the levers for raising thehead. This figure also shows the mechanism for raising the tenon-heads 9Fig. 5 is a top view of the machine. Fig. 6 is an end view of the framesupporting the oblique and beveled cutter-heads, with the cuttersremoved; also, a vertical section of a part of the body of the machine,showing the brackets and bearings for the feed-rolls. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of a portion of top of machine, showing the guides andthe safetystrip.

Similar letters refer to similar parts th roughout the several views.

Ac is the frame or body of the machine, and Ba the material to be madeinto conveyerflights,said material being fedinto the machine in thedirection of the arrows. The belt (shown by dotted lines running fromthe pulley 22, Fig. 1) turns the pulley 23. These may be cone-pulleys toregulate the speed of the ma chine.

The pinion A is keyed to the same shaft as the pulley 23, and revolveswith it. The pinion A gears into the wheel Ab on the shaft bb.

Fig. 3 is a vertical object of the wheel B on the end of shaft 121),

Fig. 1, (shown in dotted lines,) is to transmit an intermittent motionto the feed-rolls 11 and 13, Fig. 5. These rolls feed the rough materialinto the machine as it is needed, and the intermittent motion which isgiven them is very important, as will be fully explained hereinafter. Isecure this intermittent motion by the peculiar form of the wheel B, asshown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, in which, instead of making the cogs toextend around the entire circumference of the wheel, I make them toextend only a portion of the way around-as one-third or one-fourth orsuch part as I may It extends beyond the frame on each find necessary.These cogs mesh into others on the gear 0, and thence through the wheelD the motion is transmitted to the wheel E on the end of the shaft 12,Fig. 5, to which shaft the feed-rolls are secured. The train of gears 6,7, and 8 transmits the motion from the shaft 12 to the shaft 10. Asecond feed-roll, 11, is fixed on this said shaft 10. These feed-rollsare of the ordinary form for wood-work.

As the material Ba to be made into flights varies in thickness, it isnecessary to so construct the feed-rolls that they may be raised andlowered to accommodate the varying thickness of the stuff. To accomplishthis I make the universal joint 14in the shaft 12, and swing thejournal-box next the wheel E on the pivots, as shown at E E e e. Thegear-wheel E is placed directly above the gear D in order that theslight tipping of the wheel E occasioned by raising the opposite end ofthe shaft 12 will not interfere with the working of the gears D and E.The extreme end of the shaft 12, opposite the gear E, is journaled inthe adj ustable plate 15, as is also one end of the shaft 10. Thejournal-box 16, near the universal joint 14, is rigidly connected withthe movable plate 15 by an arm or bracket running beneath the bed of themachine. (See Figs. 5

and 6-.) The long bearing 9 for the shaft 10 is connected by an arm orbracket in a similar manner to the movable plate 15, (Figs. 5 and 6.)The bearing 9 is made long in order to give a solid support to the shaft10. The opposite end of 10 is not supported. The plate 15 has verticalslots with clampingscrews, and when the plate is raised and lowered thefeed-rolls will be raised and lowered in like manner, and will remainparallel at all times with face of the bed Act. The object of theuniversal joint and pivoted journal-box is plainly seen from theforegoing description.

The material for making the flights is fed into the machine in roughstrips Ba, and first comes in contact with the cylinder l? ,which inconstruction is similar to the common planingcylinder. This head planesthe under side of the strip Ba, and is operated by the belt shown indotted lines. The cutter is attached by the. brackets p to an adjustablebed,which can be raised and lowered by means of the screw B, Fig. 1.After the strip Ba leaves the cutter 1? it comes in contact with the twocutters i and i Figs. 1 and 5, which dress it down to the proper width.These cutter-heads are fastened on the upper end of the shafts I, Fig.1, and are j ournaled at J and J. These boxes J J are dovetailed, andcan. be moved laterally in the slides j j. by which means the shaftsI Iand their attached cutters Z and "Z? may be brought closer together orseparated. as desired. The cutters are driven by the belt shown indotted lines, Fig. 1, passing around the pulleys t" on the shaft I.

The next operation in my machine is to plane the top of the strips Ba,bringing it down to the proper thickness and cut the bevel on the twosides, all of which is done in a single operation by means of the cutterP. This cutter I? is of the ordinary kind,with the exception of the twooutside bits, which are longer on their outside edges and slope towardthe center at the same angle as the bevel required on the sides of theflights. These bits are shown at P, Fig. 5. This cutter has bearings inthe ends of the arms was, and is driven by the belt shown in dottedlines,.Fig. 1 running down to the pulley 19 on the countershaft. I

The next operation before the flight is severed from the strip Ba is tocut the tenon on the front end of said flight. This is done by means ofthe two revolving tenon-heads g. (Shown in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines inthe side view, Fig. 4., and top View, Fig. 5.). These tenon-heads grevolve on shafts 9 which turn in boxes 9* and 9 on top of the followeror sliding head 9. The followers G have a vertical motion in the slidesH H, and are moved up and down by the levers F. The operation of theselevers will be readily understood from the drawing in Fig. 4. 011 thepower end of the lever is the segment of a cog-wheel whose center is atthe fulcrum of the lever F. The intermittent gears b on the ends of theshaft bb engage in said segment f during part of every revolution of thegears b, thereby operating the levers F and raising the attachedfollowers G and tenon-heads 9 The tenonheads 1 Fig. 5, are just as farapart as the required tenon on the flight is wide, and are driven by thebelt shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, over the pulleys g from the pulleyK. The shifting position of the pulleys on the follow- .ers G make anarrangement to take up the slack in the belt necessary. By the use ofthree idle pulleys with an arrangement of the belt as shown in Fig. 3, Iam able to keep the belt constantly tight. In Fig. 3, K is thestationary driving-pulley, and K and g the movable pulleys on thetenon-head shafts 9 K,

.K, and K are idle pulleys, and stationary. ;The belt runs from thedriving-pulley K to the idle stationary pulley K. From K it passesaround the movable pulley K and thence to the idle stationary pulley K..From K the belt passes around the idle stationary pulley K and thenceover the movable pulley 9 back to the driving-pulley K. rangement, whenthe pulleys K and g are raised or lowered the pulley K will exactly takeup the slack from pulley g or vice versa.

The next and last operation is. to cut the conveyer-flight off at theproper length and make the bevel on the broad end. This I accomplish ina single operation by means of the oblique cutter-head L. This head isof peculiar construct-ion, as shown in perspective in Fig. 2. It has thefour wings Z Z Z Z, radiating from the center at right angles to eachother. To two of the opposite wings the cutting-bits Z Z are fastened,and to the circumference of the remaining two are secured the saws Z ZThe saw-blades Z Z project below the under face of the head L, and havetheir teeth on the lower edge, as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft on whichthe head L revolves is fixed obliquely to the bed of the machine at suchan angle as to cause the head to cut the proper bevel on the end of theflight at the same time that the saws Z Z are sawing it off.

L, Fig. 1, is the pulley by which the head L is driven. The two arerigidly connected, and are free to slide up and down the shaft m. Thedirection of the belt driving the pulley L is shown by the dotted line.

The shaft M is stationary. It can be raised and lowered, and is held inposition by the screw 0. The sliding block 0 can be adjusted by means ofthe screw 0 The shaft M is made hollow to secure the end of a clampingdevice, it. On the upper end of the shaft is the cap m, and between therod n and cap in is the spring of, which bears against the rod and keepsits lower end constantly against the work. After the flight is beveledand cut off the head L must raise to allow a new length to come intoposition. The head is raised antomatically by means of the wheel 1 inconnection with the levers 2, 3, and 5, Figs. 4 and 5.

The forked end of the lever 5 bears against the collar on the upper sideof the pulley L.

By this ar- This lever is fulcrumed on the arm a a. The arm a a isinserted in the standard A A. The standard A A is made hollow to receiveit. The opposite end of the lever 5 engages the lever 3. This lever3 isfulcrumed to the frame at y and has the draw-bar 2 suspended from itsopposite ends. The draw-bar passes through the guide Z, and has the lugZ on its lower end to engage the lug on the wheel 1.

The practical operation is as follows: The lug on the wheel 1 comes incontact with the lug on the draw bar 2. The revolution of the wheel 1draws the bar 2 down, which raises the opposite and short end of thelever 3, and this in turn lowers the cut ter-head L on the end of thelever 5. As soon as the lugs on the wheel 1 and bar 2 are disengaged,the weight 4 draws the end of lever down and raises the cutter-head.Fig. 1 shows the lowered or cutting position of the head L, and Fig. 4the elevated position of same.

A safety-strip, of wood, T, Figs. 1 and 7, is dovetailed into the bed ofthe machine to saw upon. It may be replaced when worn.

The guides U and U, Fig. 7, are adjustable by means of the slides a aand screws a and a They are to hold and guide the material Ba.

The guides U and U with their dovetailed projections are to hold thestuff more firmly while the tenon is being cut.

The upper projecting portions prevent an upward motion of the strip Ba.These said projections can be adjusted by means of the slides and screwso a a a The object of the intermittent feed before alluded to is to givethe tenon-heads time to cut the tenons on the end of the flights and theoblique head L time to bevel the broad end and saw off the completedflight before new material is fed in. Immediately after the feed stops,the tenon-heads g are raised and do their work, and as soon as they havedropped back to their original position the oblique head L is loweredand bevels the flights and saws them off.

In cutting the tenon 0n the conveyer-flight a series of saws may may beused instead of the tenon-head.

The force of the fall when the follower G drops is broken by the rubbersprings h h at the bottom of the guards H H.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and wishto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for making conveyer-flights, the cutter-head L, havingthe pulley L attached thereto, and both revolving on a stationary shaftat an angle sufficiently oblique to the bed of the machine to make therequired bevel on the end of the conVeyer-flight, the cutter-head Lprovided with knives or bits, and with circumferential saws constructedto cut the bevel on the flight and to saw off the flight at requiredlengths, in combination with the foot of, projecting from the lower endof the hollow shaft M, and constructed to hold the material by pressingit firmly against the bed plate immediately under the cutter-head L,intermittent feed-rolls 11 and 13, adapted to feed the material underthe cutter-head, and the automatic lever 5, attached at one end to thepulley L on the cutter-head L, and at the other end connected by thelever 3 and draw-bar 2 with the lugged wheel .1 on the driving-shaft, insuch a manner as to cause the lever 5 to raise and lower the pulley andattached cutterhead at proper intervals, substantially as described andspecified.

2. In a machine for making conveyer-flights,

the combination, with the cutter-head L and intermittent feed-rolls 11and 13, of the wheel 1, keyed to the main driving-shaft, and having alug on its rim adapted to engage the end of the draw-bar 2, the draw-bar2 having its upper end hinged to the lever, the lever 3 hinged at oneend to the draw-bar 2, and having on its opposite end the weight 4, andadapted to operate the lever 5, to which it is connected, and the lever5 connected at one end to the lever 3, and at the other end to thepulley L and its attached cutter-head L, all for the purpose ofautomatically raising and lowering the cutter-head L, substantially asdescribed and set forth.

3. In an intermittent feed for conveyer-flight machines, the combinationof the gear-wheel B on the end of the driving-shaft bb, said wheel Bgearing into the gear-wheel O, and having teeth only around a portion ofits circumference, so that the wheel 0 will be revolved during only aportion of the revolution of the wheel B, said gear-wheel 0 being gearedinto the gear-wheel D, and the gear-wheel D into the gear-wheel E, andthe gear-wheel E being fixed to the end of the shaft which carries thefront feed-roll, substantially as described and specified.

' 4. In a machine for making conveyer-flights, the combination of thefeed-rolls 11 and 13, adapted to revolve in the same direction and feedthe material Ba into the machine, the two rolls being connected by asuitable system of gear-wheels, and the front roll, 13, having thegear-wheel E keyed to the end of its shaft, the intermediate gears, Dand O, the wheel B, keyed to the main driving-shaft N), and having cogsaround only a portion of its circumference, adapted to engage with thecogs on the gear-wheel O and revolve the wheel 0 during a portion onlyof each revolution of the wheel B, thereby imparting an intermittentmotion to the feed-rolls 11 and 13, substantially as described andspecified.

5. In amachine for making conveyer-flights, the combination of segmentsof wheels I), keyed to the drivingshaft, and having cogs adapted toengage during a part of each revolution with the levers F, the levers Fhaving on their short arms the cogged segments f, adapted to engage withthe segments 1) and raise and lower the followers G, which operate onthe ends of the long arms of the levers, the followers G carrying thetenon-cutting heads 9',

and adapted to be raised and lowered by the lever F in order to out thetenon on the end of the flight, the foot a and guides U and U adapted tohold the material firmly while the tenon is being out, the intermittentfeed-rolls ll and 13, to feed the material between the tenon-heads atproper intervals, and the cutter-head L, having the circumferential sawsadapted to saw the flights off at proper lengths, all substantially asdescribed and specified.

6. In a machine for making conveyer-flights, the parallel adjustableguides U and U having beveled inwardlyprojecting upper edges to fit andhold the beveled material down firmly while the tenon-heads are cuttingthe tenon on the end of the flight, substantially as described.

7. Ina machine for making conveyerdlights, the combination of thecutter-head l end bracket 1), the two cutter-heads i i on thelaterally-adjustable shafts I I, the bevel cutterhead 1?, to cut theside bevel on the flights, said cutter-head being supported by the armsas, the tenon-eutting heads 9 g on the followers G G, raised and loweredby the lever F, and intermittent gear-wheel b, the oblique cutter-headL, sliding up and down on the hollow shaft M, and having a forward adjustment by means of the sliding block 0, the intermittent feedmechanism, and the table or frame A66, as described and specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 7th day of February, 1884.

SYLVANUS COX.

\Vitnesses:

E. G. FoRsYTH, CHAS. A. Nioom.

